O1101

America Folk Art

Navajo Blankets (Brave)

Collins Cover Announcement 

NAVAJO ART – RUGS

This was quite a trip to the Southwest. My headquarters was in Gallup, New Mexico, and my mother-in-law came along to help me out. On the First Day, an early breakfast was delightful as several hummingbirds darted to and fro among the shrubs by our dining room window. Dot enjoys the covers and has expressed a willingness to help out on trips where I might have a conflict, so this was a training mission. At the Post Office, I introduced Dot to Lois and Price Hamilton. Also Art Harris was there from Washington. Earlier, we stumbled upon the red rock formation that gave the town its name -- an impressive opening that indeed was a "window to the sky".

Knowing that I would need a little help putting the four stamps on the covers, I had earlier contacted a local church. The women who assisted were all Navajos so there is a very good chance that some of the stamps were affixed to your covers by the people being honored.

For these stamps, I did two different and distinct covers.

The "portrait" cover is very powerful with a large portrait of a Navajo brave. I think the realistic colors used in the hand painting are superb -- with just an accent of turquoise jewelry. Behind him is a circular background of intense orange. It could be the sun. It could represent the colors of the Southwest. It could portray the desert heat. It could be, and is, whatever your interpretation says it is. For sure, it is a powerful cachet.

Two of the stamps are used on this cover. For the Unofficial cancel, I drove from Arizona back to New Mexico and the small Indian community of Navajo, N.M. There, in a trading post was a small Post Office, and it was there that the FDCs were canceled. It is a good quality cancel and certainly could not be more appropriate for this issue. Item #O1101 - $8.00

The "loom" cover is quite a unique item, and I'll try to describe it to you. First of all, I got wind of a special pictorial cancel that was going to be in use showing some early Navajo weaving tools and some yarn. I checked on size dimen­sions (and was glad I did) and found it was very large. This presented a dilemma because not much room would be left for the cachet. My solution was to incorporate the cancel into the design, and the result is an FDC unlike any others for this issue.

In the center of the cover, I "built" a loom of lashed poles. Before my trip, the background within the loom was painted sand tan. The two other stamps (not used on portrait cover) were affixed within the loom area. All was now ready for the pictorial cancel, and I will spin that tale in a moment.

To complete the cachet design, two Navajo women sit at either side of the loom "working" on the rugs (stamps). In the background, a hogan is seen as well as a distant sheep herder. The blue sky contrasts to the desert scene below. This is a most imaginative and interesting hand-painted cachet.

After affixing the stamps, I bid good-bye to my very conscien­tious and pleasant Navajo helpers. A short drive brought us to our destination -- the huge, colorful and action-packed cele­bration of the year -- THE NAVAJO NATION FAIR. It was incredible! An all Indian rodeo. Tribal dances. Bus loads of Indian school children arriving to take part in their heritage. Displays of furs, leather goods, and, of course, hand-woven blankets. Competitions for vegetables, crafts and livestock. Quite an event. And in the main building was a postal sub­station booth where the pictorial cancel was available.

Please understand the following. This cancel was created by a Navajo for the fair and its design and lettering is very rough. It was very hard to get good cancels (if "good" is used in comparison with clear, crisp, modern cancels), but I think that all of the cancels are better than good because of what the cancel is and where it was applied. I left Dot to watch while I took off to Navajo, New Mexico with the portrait covers.

Upon my return in the afternoon, many covers were still to be done. At last they were finished. The cancels fit pretty well into the loom area. They tie the two stamps nicely. The primitive cancel device was hard to ink and hard to apply to the cover. It is not perfect in appearance. Then again, to me it looks pretty darn good, and I sort of like the "rough and ready" look from a rough and rugged terrain. In a word, it "fits".

It was back to Gallup, and at 4 a.m. the next morning we hit the dark highway heading east toward Albuquerque. We were rewarded with a magnificent New Mexico sunrise. As we lifted off the runway for our flight home, I felt good that once again I was carrying covers that I would be proud to offer. Item #O1103) - $8.00